1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a positive terminal for a dry battery and a battery box equipped with the positive terminal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A prior art structure of a battery box is shown in FIG. 3. This battery box 1 includes a casing 2 having a cover 2a which can be opened and closed, a battery receiving portion 3 provided in the casing 2, a partition plate 4 integrally formed in the casing 2, mounting members 5 provided on the partition plate 4, a positive terminal 10 for a dry battery which includes an electrode portion 12 formed by bending one end portion of a steel wire into a roughly W shape and inserted in the mounting members 5, a substrate 6 soldered to the other end of the positive terminal 10, a storage capacitor 7 provided on the substrate 6, and a coil-shaped minus terminal 8. A cable 16 which extends from the battery box 1 includes a connector 17 provided at the tip thereof that is adapted to make a connection with a device (not shown in the drawing) such as a MD or the like to supply electricity to such device.
In order to achieve a simple structure for the battery box 1, the positive terminal 10 of the battery box 1 also serves as a lead wire that connects the electrode portion 12 to the substrate 6. A lead portion that serves as the lead wire is indicated by the reference numerals 11, and one end of this lead portion 11 forms a soldering portion which is soldered to the substrate 6 as shown by the reference number 13.
However, in the battery box 1 having the above structure, when the battery box 1 receives vibration or shock, a force due to the vibration or shock will cause the battery (not shown in the drawing) housed inside the battery box 1 to push against the electrode portion 12 of the positive terminal 10. As a result, the partition plate 4 will bend slightly, and at the same time, a load will be added to the substrate 6 through the lead portion 11 of the positive terminal 10.
This load concentrates at the soldering portion 13, thus resulting in the problems such as the formation of cracks in the substrate 6 at the soldering portion 13 and the wearing away of solder and the like.
It is thought that these problems can be solved by using a flexible wire conductor for the lead portion 11. However, because this in turn requires the use of an additional component separate from the electrode portion 12, the manufacturing cost will increase.